MY PARENTS’ SALVATION

Tay Bee Heng

I was born into a non-Christian family. My father—Tay Whye Seng—was a taxi driver and my mother—Tan Choy Han—was a seamstress. Since young, my siblings and I were taught to worship “Guan Yin”, otherwise known as the “goddess of mercy”. My father was involved in an organisation that chants for the dead, and he got my brother and me to help out when we were in primary school. It was also a place where I learnt how to project my voice to sing. As time passed, I realised that many people joined the group either due to superstition or to make money out of it, so I quit the organisation.

Being steeped in heathen practices, my father was then very much opposed to Christianity. When my oldest sister Joan first became a Christian when she was in secondary school, she was very fearful. Subsequently, the rest of the sisters Stella and Flora also believed and wanted to attend church services, but my father objected and even threatened to sever ties with them if they did so. This caused my sisters to stop attending church.

In 1988, I received Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour. By God’s grace, my father did not object to my churchgoing. After Yee Fong and I were married in Life BPC in 1993 by Rev Timothy Tow, we invited my parents to Life BPC Chinese Service which they attended for about half a year. The gospel was presented to them but at that time, the world was simply too attractive to them; so father found an excuse to stop attending church.

Sometime in 2006, a friend who was attending the Teochew service in Prinsep Street Life Church told me of a Teochew-speaking fellowship there. Since True Life BPC did not have a Chinese worship service then, I brought my parents to the Prinsep Street Life Church to join their Teochew fellowship. It did not last long. Soon my parents stopped attending the fellowship too. Since then, they did not attend any church service. When an opportunity arose, we would invite them to True Life worship service, gospel rally, Easter or Christmas Eve service but they would decline as they would be busy with their own activities. Though at times discouraged, we did not stop praying for them.

In mid-October 2015, my parents travelled to Shanghai to stay with my eldest sister for three months. However, on 29 November 2015, my father was observed to have developed jaundice and his condition worsened the following day. Arrangements were swiftly made to fly my parents back to Singapore on the earliest possible flight on December 2nd. After their arrival, we had to send father immediately from the airport to the A&E department at SGH where he was warded.

After a blood test, an X-ray and a CT scan, my father was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreatic duct. An endoscopy was scheduled for December 7th, during which a stent would be inserted to drain the bile to relieve him of jaundice. As my father is a man with a strong and optimistic personality, we decided to reveal to him his condition. A major operation would have to be performed on him a few weeks later. However, according to the senior consultant surgeon Dr Goh, there was only a 30% chance of patients surviving more than five years after a successful operation. The majority of patients lived between one to five years after the operation. There was also a possibility of complications (within the first month following the surgery) followed by death. Pancreatic cancer is of the aggressive type. If he were to receive only chemotherapy without going through the operation, his maximum life span was estimated to be about a year according to Dr Goh. My father received the news calmly and chose to go for the operation. He knew that his health condition was even worse than the coronary problem he had three years ago. Though his heart was beating healthily since the successful bypass surgery in 2012, deep within his heart, he knew his time was limited as this time round, it was cancer.

Thank God for the opportunity He gave to Yee Fong and me while we were visiting my father in his ward (my mother was there too) in the early evening of December 5th. There were only the four of us. While explaining to him his medical condition, my heart was burdened to share the gospel with my parents once again (which was last done before father’s heart bypass operation). Little did I know that while sharing the gospel with my father, my mother was listening intently and the Holy Spirit was working in her heart. As usual, father kept quiet and did not indicate if he wished to believe; so we left the hospital with mother to have dinner before fetching her home.

During the car ride, mother reiterated that since she and her husband are one flesh, they would want to go to the same place for eternity. She told me that she would follow father’s decision and asked me to continue to share the gospel with him. At the dinner table, I asked her frankly in Chinese, “Don’t you know that if you continue to wait for dad to believe, both of you will end up in hell if dad continues to reject Jesus?” She replied that she would pray for her husband. My response to her was that because she was still a sinner, God would not hear her. She became interested to know how God can hear her prayers. I told her that there is no other way but to accept Jesus as her personal Lord and Saviour as Jesus has said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Rather than waiting for my father to believe first, I emphasised that salvation is a personal one between herself and God, that she should receive Christ first so that she can pray for her husband’s salvation. Through the believing wife, God can sanctify the unbelieving husband and save him in His own timing and according to His will.

Back in mother’s house, she posed a question regarding burial and cremation of which her doubts were clarified. Subsequently, she declared she was ready to receive the Lord. (At this juncture, we are thankful to God for the timely and recently concluded VBS in Kemaman from November 25th to 27th where God enabled us to learn again several important Christian words in Chinese, how to share God’s Word and pray in Chinese as well.) At about 10.30 that night, Mom finally received Christ. Praise the Lord! When my second sister called shortly at about 11 pm, she told her immediately that she has received Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Saviour. The next morning, she texted my eldest sister in Shanghai and announced the good news of her salvation. Mom told father the next day when she visited him in hospital that she has received Christ and has become a believer and told him to believe as well.

The good news of mother’s salvation was shared with Jenny Kan who had spoken to my parents before. By God’s divine foresight, Candice (daughter-in-law of Jenny) was placed in the maternity ward at SGH which was in the same block where my father was warded. Dn Charles and Jenny happened to be there at that time. They came to the ward to visit my father. When the gospel was presented to him again, he did not reject. When they asked if they could pray for him, he nodded in approval. It was a positive sign. However, he had yet to submit to God to confess Christ. As the operation date drew nigh, my mother was becoming more anxious; so I assured her I will speak to Pastor about father.

Soon after, we left Singapore with a heavy heart for the YPF camp at Mersing on December 21st. During the camp, God granted me an opportunity to share with Pastor who said he would visit my father on Christmas Day. Back in Singapore, when I told mother of Pastor’s visit, she was overjoyed and immediately informed father about it.

On December 25th, Pastor arrived at approximately 11.10 am. As it was a public holiday, getting a parking lot could be quite difficult. Moreover, non-residents can only park in the limited white lots of the HDB carpark that is usually quite crowded. God by His cooperative will provided the one and only available lot for Pastor to park his car. When he arrived at the house, Pastor preached the gospel straightaway to my father in Chinese from three Scripture passages taken from John 3:16, John 11:25 and Romans 10:9. Pastor told father that if he would like to believe in Christ, he could just say a simple prayer—主耶稣救我 (“Lord Jesus, please save me”). My father recited the five Chinese words. Pastor reiterated the call to receive Christ, and father prayed the same five words to confirm. Thank God for giving Pastor the wisdom to ask him if he wanted to be baptised. Initially, father thought of delaying his baptism till after his operation. When Pastor told him that if he has truly believed, then he should get baptised and not delay. Father willingly agreed. When mother was asked if she had believed, she joyfully confessed her salvation. Thus by the wonderful grace of God, both of my parents were baptised on 25 December 2015 at about 11.30 am. Praise the Lord for His mercy upon them! Salvation is truly of the Lord. “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” (Rom 9:15-16).

By God’s mercies, my father survived the seven-hour surgery on 4 January 2016 to have the entire gall bladder, half of the stomach and half of the pancreas removed. He was discharged from hospital on January 13th. Although physically weak, he is recovering well at home. My family and I are thankful to God for the church who prayed for my parents, for loving and caring brethren who prayed with and for him, and for those who visited him in the hospital and at home. It was a great encouragement to both my parents who are newborn babes in Christ.

During my father’s recent medical review by the surgeon, the nurse asked him what his religion was while filling out some forms. He replied firmly without any hesitation, “I am a Christian”. During the review, father was told that the cancer cells had spread to the regional lymph nodes, and chemotherapy and radiotherapy was recommended. Although we do not know what God’s will for my father is (as the possibility of a relapse even after chemotherapy is real), we have the assurance that should the Lord take him home, he will be safe in the arms of Jesus. We will continue to trust in the almighty God whose will is holy and perfect. It is my prayer that my parents will remain steadfast in the Christian faith, will continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to know Him, love Him and trust Him more each day.

All praise, glory and honour be unto God! Amen.